A Canaan couple was released on $5,000 cash each Monday afternoon following their arrest Saturday for allegedly kicking in the door at the home of another couple and taking their 4-year-old son.
Emily Hartley, 19, and her fiancé, Justin Baker, 22, face several felony charges, including burglary, aggravated criminal trespass and criminal restraint, according to James Ross, chief deputy with the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office.
Ross said the ordeal reportedly began at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday when deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance on Hinckley Road in Canaan. The report stated that Hartley and Baker had allegedly taken the 4-year-old boy by force, while physically assaulting the child’s parents.
Five county deputies responded to the report, discovering that the child had been taken to a home on Easy Street in Canaan. Ross said that Hartley told investigators that she suspected, but had no proof, “that something bad may have happened to the child in the past and she made the decision to go get the child.”
Ross said that deputies learned that Hartley and Baker had arrived at the family’s home on Hinckley Road and asked to take the child. When the mother refused and told them to leave, she locked the door and Baker and Hartley allegedly kicked the door in. The parents of the child allege they were both assaulted and the child was taken.
As the child’s parents tried to block Baker and Hartley from leaving, Baker and Hartley went out a back, sealed door by smashing out the glass, according to Ross.
Deputies went to the home on Easy Street where they made contact with Baker, Hartley and the child. The child was reunited with the parents and Baker and Hartley were arrested on charges of burglary, Class B; aggravated criminal trespass, Class C; criminal restraint, Class C; two counts of assault, both Class D; and criminal mischief, Class D.
The felony Class B and C charges are punishable by up to 10 years and five years in prison, respectively.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
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